Stanford calls on Hernandez but Bears have other plans

Published 4:00 am, Friday, February 10, 2006

During its five-game winning streak, Stanford had been finding ways to turn games around in the final moments.

They had another chance Thursday night, but Cal evidently has been paying attention. The Bears weren't about to allow any miracles at Haas Pavilion and held on for a 65-62 victory.

What had been an 11-point Cal lead was reduced to one with 16 seconds left after Matt Haryasz, whose playing status was not determined until late Thursday afternoon, hit a 3-pointer to make the score 63-62.

Ayinde Ubaka's two free throws four seconds later boosted the Bears' lead back to three, a situation Stanford had been in before. Chris Hernandez once again was entrusted with Stanford's fate, but this time the Cardinal guard found no room to be a hero.

"If somebody was going to beat us in that situation, it wasn't going to be Chris Hernandez," Cal coach Ben Braun said. "We felt we couldn't let him do it."

Hernandez, who beat Oregon with a 3-pointer in a similar situation a week ago, found nothing but white jerseys and hands in his way this time.

Photo: Kurt Rogers

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Stanfords Chris Hernandez and Cal's Richard Midgley with a jump ball in front of Cal's bench in the first period.
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Stanfords Chris Hernandez and Cal's Richard Midgley with a jump ball in front of Cal's bench in the first period.
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Stanford calls on Hernandez but Bears have other plans

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"I was trying to get a 3 up, but they were double-teaming me, triple-teaming me," Hernandez said. "Then I thought I saw Matt (Haryasz) and tried to make a play to him, but I lost the ball."

The fact that Haryasz was on the court at the time was something of a surprise. After being poked in the eye Saturday at Oregon State, the Cardinal center was experiencing vision problems all week. His eye was still discolored and blood shot on Thursday.

One problem was the change in his vision as the injury healed. He was fitted with corrective goggles, which were soon obsolete and had to be replaced by a newer model.

"I was trying out three or four pair of goggles," Haryasz said. "Today I was improved. I had a new pair of goggles at the shootaround, but by game time I was seeing a little bit better so I had to change goggles again.

"There were a couple of times tonight when I thought my shot was off and it went in for me. So the basket wasn't exactly where I thought it was."

Cal built its lead with the help of a technical foul early in the second half called against Taj Finger, apparently for hanging on the rim too long. The Bears had scored four straight to build on their two-point halftime lead when Finger dunked the ball.

But instead of playing defense down by four, the Cardinal had to watch as Ubaka went to the line and hit a pair. Then Cal was awarded the ball and Ubaka hit a 3-pointer. What had been a four-point deficit was suddenly nine.

Stanford coach Trent Johnson, clearly upset when asked about the call, gritted his teeth and said grimly, "The score was 65-62," leaving anyone to draw their own conclusions.

But he quickly caught himself and deflected the reason for the defeat away from the officials. "We had opportunities," he said. "A good Cal basketball team beat us. They deserve to be in second place."

Stanford (12-8, 8-4 Pac-10) takes a break from conference play Saturday night and visits fifth-ranked Gonzaga in an matchup to be televised by ESPN.